Brandel Chamblee lays out PGA Tour ‘path’ for LIV golfers as he reignites Bryson DeChambeau feud

Outspoken analyst Brandel Chamblee has weighed in on the prospect of LIV players returning to the PGA Tour…

Brandel Chamblee has always been one of the harshest critics of LIV Golf and the players who defected to the breakaway circuit – but has he softened his stance slightly?

With protracted PGA Tour-LIV negotiations stalled and seemingly further away than ever from resolution, Chamblee was asked about the prospect of players rejoining the traditional American circuit.

While he reiterated those who want to regain their PGA Tour membership should not simply be able to pick up where they left off, Chamblee does think there should be a “path” for the likes of Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.

“There would have to be some penalty for them to come back,” Chamblee said on Trey Wingo podcast. “There is a path, but with some time in the penalty box after they leave LIV.

“I know everybody will say, ‘We want Brooks back straight away’. Well, the Tour is doing fine without Brooks Koepka, they’re doing fine without Phil Mickelson, they’re doing fine without Dustin Johnson, doing fine without Jon Rahm. There has to be some penalty.

“Let’s not forget, the Tour had to spend a lot of money to fight that litigation and eventually end that litigation. A lot of their rainy day fund would have gone to waste.”

Of all the players Chamblee has taken umbrage with, nobody draws his ire like DeChambeau. The Mad Scientist is an opinion-splitting character and there is no doubt on which side of the fence Chamblee sits.

The 63-year-old rarely wastes an opportunity to stick the knife in. Ahead of the Ryder Cup, Chamblee described DeChambeau as an “odd duck” and a “captain’s nightmare”, while he also expressed doubt as to the number of real followers the two-time major winner has on YouTube.

Since leaving the PGA Tour, DeChambeau has amassed an army of subscribers across social media. However, Chamblee refuted the notion that he has established himself as a “must-watch” golfer and pointed to LIV’s poor TV ratings as evidence.

“I think Bryson is a compelling watch,” Chamblee added. “But the idea that he is ‘must watch TV’ is poor. I mean nobody rushes to watch the TV when he’s leading a LIV event. The ratings… nobody cares to watch him then, they just don’t.

“But when he’s going head-to-head with Rory, or Scottie Scheffler, they tune in. Are they tuning in for Bryson or Rory? Are they tuning into Bryson or Scottie? They watch to the tune of three, four, five million people when Rory and Scottie are playing in the Masters.

“It’s 50 to 100, 500,000 when Bryson, Rahm, DJ and Brooks are going head-to-head. If it was a fight, they’d stop it.”

Sometimes it’s OK to sit on the fence, Brandel…

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